Ray is a super friendly cafe with a full vegan menu that will require a few visits to work your way through. One epic offering is the Black Maple Society (GFO $18), with spiced french toast, banana chocolate mousse, black tahini, maple, ginger miso ice cream sandwich, blueberries, walnut halva and carrot vinegar. Woah. There are plenty of savoury options too, with Pastadon ($16) – tagliatelle, greens, capers, almonds, miso cheese and garlic crumbs, being a fave.

If you like the sound of walking the dog* in a beautiful garden with a vegan toastie or sweet treat in tow, then head to Queens Park. This all vegan hole-in-the-wall whipped me up a 'Fried Chick'n Sammich' ($15) with schnitzel, pickle, slaw and mayo; it was fresh and tasty, although the schnitzel was more akin to Fry's than the Temple of Seitan action I was secretly dreaming of.

A large array of vegan cakes are on offer, along with hot drinks and smoothies & shakes, and some casual outdoor seating.

2. Temple of Hackney - Vegan Fried Chicken Shop

Whether seitan gives you a 'mud guts' or not, it's just the rules that vegans visiting London have to swing by here. A '2 piece' with chipotle mayo (£5) will be enough delicious regret for some. The 'Temple spicy burger' with crispy fillet, cheese, coleslaw, jalapeños with hot sauce and chipotle mayo (£6) is another option, however it's definitely not a 'neat eat' – keep the napkins handy.

3. Tibits - Vegan and Vegetarian Restaurant

Tibits is changing the reputation of buffet restaurants, one piled up plate at a time. Stop by for a smorgasbord of fresh and interesting hot and cold vegan options to load onto your plate, which is then weighed and priced accordingly. Try a comforting hot lemon and ginger drink here too; especially useful if jet lag is still lurking.

5. La Suite West - Vegan Afternoon Tea

There's nothing more British than a spot of afternoon tea, and the vegan offering at La Suite West Hotel is commendable. You can expect delicious sandwiches graced with the likes of cashew cream cheese and bbq tempeh, along with warm homemade scones with strawberries and whipped coconut cream, cakes, fresh roasted Italian coffee and a selection of loose leaf tea. If you're staying here (they also do a vegan full english breakfast), take advantage of the opportunity to pre-book your afternoon tea and you'll save around £12 each.

6. Planet Organic

Planet Organic endeavours to supply the best and widest range of organic foods available, and there are plenty of vegan goodies in that mix (there is sooo much amazing chocolate). The hot food and salad bar is worth a visit for a quick and nutritious feed, where you'll find delicious curries, sides and soups – just check the labels for the cruelty free options labelled vegan.

Bowl sizes: small £4.99, medium £6.99, large £7.99Complimentary filtered water and sparkling water available

7. The Gate Hammersmith

The Gate is an all vegetarian and vegan institution of sorts, that have been serving London for almost 3 decades. It’s a fine dining restaurant with accessible prices and unless you arrive early and eat quickly, you’ll definitely need to book a table. We tried the wild mushroom risotto cake with a creamy cep (mushroom) sauce, rocket & lemon truffle dressing ( £16) and shared the most amazing vegan Eton mess one could wish for (yep, I’m still dreaming about it).

8. Mod Pizza

Mod Pizza is not even a vegetarian pizza chain, let alone all vegan – but they do have vegan cheese and the servers do go to the trouble of changing into fresh gloves when making a vegan pizza. There are around 22 veggie toppings to choose from to build your own creation, the service is prompt and the prices are fair at £7.87 for an average size pizza. Do note that there are no vegan 'meats' on offer at this stage if that's a deal breaker for you. (hint, hint, if you're reading this Mod Pizza)

Opening Hours:Sun-Thu 11am–11pm | Fri-Sat 11am–12am

Note: Other UK locations are Leeds, Nottingham and Gatehead. There's also a whole bunch of them in the US as Mod was founded in Seattle.

Augustus Gloop Gelatery joins Miinot Gelato in serving up cold treats to the Pascoe Vale crowd, and business is absolutely booming.

All of the store-made sorbets on offer are vegan, and there are around 6-8 different flavours each day. Great flavours we've tried include piña colada, mango and watermelon sherbet; while some other flavours we've seen include lemon, strawberry, raspberry, coconut and turkish delight.

Pricing refers to 'gloops' instead of scoops, with 1 gloop for $4.50, 2 gloops for $6.50 or 3 gloops for $8.50 – enjoyed in a cup or waffle cone. Take away tubs are also available in a half litre ($12.50) or full litre ($20).

Spiral Beans is Yuka Mikayama's reincarnation of her homestyle Japanese cafe Disco Beans, and is a collaboration with Spiral Foods, who's greatest hits include the famed Bonsoy.

The focus at Spiral Beans is very much about traditional Japanese flavours within a predominantly organic vegan menu, with gluten free, raw, fermented and macrobiotic options to boot.

The 'Okara Nuggets' (gluten free $11.5) are shallow fried spiced chickpea nuggets, and have our approval. Funnily enough, okara defines as soy pulp or tofu dregs (!), but never fear as this dish proves fried tofu dregs to be very delicious!

Yuka's version of 'Nasu Dengaku' (gluten free $11.50) or deep fried eggplant, is cut up into bite sized pieces making it easier to eat and share than the usual whole eggplant half we are used to.

As a hats off to Disco Beans, the much loved Okonomyaki (gluten free $19.5) remains on the menu, and is presented sizzling in a teppan. The sweet sauce and vegan mayo are both made by hand and from scratch and Spiral Beans are not afraid to declare that their version is better than any okonomyaki found in Osaka. I personally would have liked a bit more vegan mayo – slather it on I say!

The 'Soba Salad' ($18.5) is tossed in a wonderfully balanced homemade balsamic dressing, with greens and baked tempeh and was my favourite.

There are vegan desserts, including 'Coconut Milk Kuzu Pudding' along with an impressive range of high quality Japanese green tea. Japanese tea ceremonies are hosted and cooking classes are also available.

Loving Hut is an all vegan restaurant chain with over 200 stores worldwide, each offering different menus and qualities of service, but all united in the goal of bringing affordable vegan meals to the public.

Behind the sect-like glowing signage, yellow walls, plastic bamboo, and tv screen illuminating Batman cartoons (on mute thankfully), Northcote Loving Hut is a damn good place for a consistently delicious meal, and it's huge interior makes it an easy choice for last minute dining if you have a big group to feed.

The menu offers a boundless array of everything that seems non-vegan at a glance. We're talking about dishes such as 'Southern fried chicken' ($16) (or 'The volcano' ($17) if your partial to smothering said dish in hot sauce), 'Lemon chicken' ($14), 'Katsu duck with plum sauce' ($14), 'Pan fried tuna fillet' ($13) and the list goes on and it's all vegan.

My favourite dish of the moment is 'Bambam' ($15), which is deep fried eggplant or prawns with creamy sriracha infused mayo on top, and puffed tofu. Loving Hut also do an authentic vegan 'Silken tofu pad thai' ($13), a classic 'Curry laksa' ($12) and various rice, noodle and vegetable dishes. There are almost 50 items on the menu, so I won't even attempt to list them all, but I will let you know that many can be ordered as gluten free, onion free and garlic free.

Desserts are also an option, with Zebra dream organic coconut ice-cream scoops, banana fritters, and an array of cakes and La Panella Bakery style baked goods, such as lemon tarts and caramel slice.

Smith & Deli is an all vegan, New York style deli bought to life by our friends from Smith & Daughters. This is the place to stop by for bread, pastries, coffee, cheeses, meats (all vegan remember!), salads, soups, pies, meals to go and an incredible array of over 25 sandwiches.

Sandwiches are king at Smith & Deli and the menu may stun you with the sheer amount of options of available, so check it out before you go. The 'Rubenstein' ($15) is a good pick with pastrami, sauerkraut, pickles and Russian dressing on rye; or go for a 'Buffalo the Vampire Slayer' ($12) with buffalo tofu, ranch, shredded iceberg, carrot, onion and celery in a roll. Next time I think I'll channel Kevin and try the 'Home Alone' ($15) made up of turkey, roasted brussel sprouts, cranberry sauce, mashed potato & gravy, all on a roll. Gluten free bread is available for all sandwiches for an extra $2.

Some lighter options that are more in the breakfast camp are also on offer, including a variety of grilled cheese sandwiches ($8-$12), croissants, and chef Shannon Martinez's take on a popular fast food breakfast item with the 'Egg McMartinez' ($7) including egg, bacon and cheddar on an English muffin with your choice of sauce.

Meals to go, such as pizza ('pepperoni' $16), lasagne, pies (four different flavours everyday, in both single and family sizes), sausages, schnitzels, tofu and tempeh are all available.

North and westsiders no longer have to make the trek to Fitzroy to join the queues at Gelato Messina for amazing all-fruit based handmade gelato – thanks to Miinot Gelato, which opened in late 2014 in Pascoe Vale South.

Miinot Gelato is an impeccably presented family run shop with a small, but fruitful selection of quality gelato, including around 4-5 vegan flavours on rotation. On our visit, the vegan choices included lemon, forest berries, mango and strawberry & pear. The vegan dark chocolate gelato is also usually on offer.

The flavours are intensely natural and if you're lucky you might even encounter a little chunk of fruit or berry seed. The mango gelato was a particular highlight and exceptionally creamy.

Whether you're after a single plain cone ($4.20), a double waffle cone ($5.80) or even a tiny cone ($2.50), Miinot Gelato can accommodate. Cups range from a tiny cup ($2.50) through to a quad cup ($7.20), or you can grab a 500ml ($15), 1000ml ($20) or 1500ml ($27) tub of your favourite flavours to devour at home.

Chew Burger popped up next to the The Racoon Club in early 2014 to bring burgers and fries to an otherwise quiet little strip in Preston. With the tip-off that they catered for vegans, we checked them out on a Friday night when they were bursting with takeaway orders and busy servicing the drinkers next door.

We discovered that there's actually only one vegan burger on the menu, aptly named 'Vegan' (GF $15). It has portobello mushroom, thyme, vegan mayo, guacamole, salsa and cos lettuce on a gluten free bun.

The burger's winning ingredient is the vegan mayo which they've really nailed, however it was let down a bit by the gluten free bun, which in the end dominated the flavours. Serving the vegan burger on a gluten free bun (substitute not allowed) led me to believe that perhaps this burger is intended as a 'cure all' for those pesky types who won't eat 'normal' food. Also, at $15 the price is really quite steep for a rather small burger.

We also tried a serve of 'Shoestring fries w/ roasted ghost chilli salt' and vegan mayo ($4.50). We're not sure if a mistake was made on the night, but the fries were sweet rather than salty. They looked as good as Trippy Taco's 'Trippy fries', but without any of the moreish salty goodness.

There's also an 'Apple, slaw, mint, pea salad' ($5) and a good array of Italian and Mexican soft drinks ($4.50-$4.50).

Trippy Taco is a popular all vegetarian restaurant that has been churning out Mexican style fare to hungry Melburnians since 2006. By replacing dairy cheese with vegan cheese, and egg with tofu, almost all of the menu is on offer to vegans.

The vegan 'Tofu Asada' burrito ($12.50) is a favourite choice, with spicy chargrilled tofu, salad, salsa, vegan cheese, fresh lime and if you're lucky you might even find a couple of sultanas hidden in there (trust me, it works!). Ask for your burrito to be 'Californian style' and they'll sneak some paprika-ry 'Trippy Fries' into the mix too. I should mention that some of the Trippy Taco burritos (while being delicious), do tend to be rather 'juicy' and can be messy to eat (don't say I didn't warn you).

Other menu items include a 'Breakfast Burrito' ($10.50) with scrambled tofu in lieu of egg, 'Vegan Nachos' ($11 regular, $17 large GF), Tacos (from $7.50 each GF), 'Quesadillas' with vegan cheese (from $9) and Taquitos ($12 GF). The 'Trippy Fries' ($4.50 small, $6.50 regular) are an essential extra and have a delicious seasoning.

The vegan cheese of choice for Trippy used to be Cheezly, however they've now (controversially for some) changed over to using Daiya cheese. I'll confess to being a member of 'Team Cheezly', however the changeover is far from being a deal breaker.

Desserts can also be found, and include the 'Tamale Dessert' ($12), a sweet corn tamale with soy ice-cream, banana and maple syrup (ask for vegan version) or a veganised 'Nutella and Banana Melt' ($8) with vegan chocolate spread and banana melted in a flour tortilla.

Trippy Taco can get pretty busy and while there's a few tables, they do tend to fill up rather quickly. If you're after takeaway, it's good to phone your order in to avoid a wait. Also note that phone orders are taken up to 15 minutes before closing, however in my experience, staff may be too busy to answer the phone, so it's best to call as early as possible.